The call is relevant for cities and regions that are looking to develop a CSS in the construction and building sector; and that are looking to integrate innovative tools, products and techniques; for enabling construction and renovation that embeds the principle of extending the service life of buildings; and facilitating adaptability to changing user needs, reuse, and deconstruction, in a life-cycle optimisation and circular economy perspective. To achieve this, projects should involve local and regional values chains, in particular SMEs, based on participatory approaches to increase innovation buy-in from users and flexibly adapt to local/regional sourcing of innovative products and materials to increase replication.

Open to any legal entity based in EU member states and associated countries, with required cooperation between at least three parties from three different countries (at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries). Participation of SMEs and industry is encouraged.

Proposals should validate construction and renovation solutions on the integration of innovative tools, products, techniques, processes and methods that facilitate deconstruction and reuse, based on life-cycle approaches across the value chain. This includes:

• improving the ease of reuse of construction elements and products from existing buildings, also facilitating recycling when reuse is not possible;
• developing building elements and products that can be disassembled and reused, including those made from CO2-storing materials;
• addressing all components of buildings, including structural elements, envelopes, interior fixtures and fittings, and technical building systems.

The solutions should be validated in a relevant environment (real-life or close to real-life) that covers:

• residential and non-residential projects, at least half of which should be renovation projects;
• at least two different countries with diverse climatic conditions;
• involvement local and regional values chains, in particular SMEs, based on participatory approaches to increase innovation buy-in from users.

The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 8.00 million. The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of around EUR 4.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of a proposal requesting different amounts.

1. EC publishes calls for proposals on the funding and tenders portal https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/ 
2. The call is open for the usual period of ca. five months where applicants can submit their proposal.
3. Proposals can be single or two-stage application processes. A single stage application process requires the filling in of a structured proposal of max. 45 pages including: objectives and innovation approach (excellence); tangible impacts that can be achieved through the project (impact); and the project planning and tasks (quality). If the application is two stage, the aforementioned structure would be the second stage of the application while the first stage is a simplified proposal of a maximum 10 pages including only excellence and impact sections. These documents are to be uploaded to the portal in PDF format alongside the filling in of the respective parts of the portal with administrative information on the beneficiaries, affiliated entities or others. All participants in a project need to possess a Participant Identification Code (i.e. PIC number, a nine-digit number registered on ECAS). For more information, please see the work programme and the call documents.
4. Proposals submitted within the deadline will be evaluated by experts against evaluation criteria. 
5. Winning proposals will be invited for signing a grant agreement with the EC.

Planned opening date: 17 September 2024

Deadline date: 21 January 2025